Wait for nothing (but appreciate everything)
by CieloDiLiberta
Summary: When Tsuna was five years old he meet a man with kind eyes and a sad smile. On that day he's entire world changed.
1. Chapter 1

The betrayal of Luce still leaves a bitter taste in the chosen Arcobaleno's mouths, its seared in their minds even as they are forced to gather by her bedside as she begins her journey to Death's embrace.

Reborn stares at the dying Sky, one that could have been his had things gone differently. If she hadn't already been fully bonded, if she had decided to trust them and gave them a choice instead of lying with her honey-soaked words and forcing them to play a part in a curse they never agreed with. (He wonders if any of them would have stayed had they known). If she hadn't decided to betray them, to betray him. He remembers her kindness, the way she light up with room with her Sky flames, the way she drew each and every one of them in with her smiles and treats, with her promises of safety and care. How she formed latent bonds with each of them, gain their trust, _gained their names_, only to throw everything away when brought them all to Checkerface like lambs to a slaughter.

He remembers how it felt to have the curse latch onto to his flames, onto his very being. How it sucked out each and everyone of their lives without restraint until they were forced into the bodys of infants, how Luce smiled at them still, claimed it was their duty, that they should be _honored_ they were Chosen. How they fled the moment the Incident ended, with their too small bodies and anger flooding even the calmest of veins.

Reborn threw himself even harder into his work, didn't stop even when exhaustion plagued at his senses. He throws himself into every field he can get his hands into, deadly and free aside from the Curse. He ensures that despite his new body, everyone remembers why he was called the Greatest Hitman, and if he's ways are a little more violent and sadistic then before, well that's nobody's business but his own.

Viper threw themselves into the Varia, takes reign of the finances and distracts themselves with their own illusions and the monotonous movement of cash. Numbers don't lie, and there is a price for everything in this world, Viper understands this now. They won't make the same mistake a second time.

Skull, the least underground of them all, drowned himself in stunt work that bordered on suicidal. He earns the name 'Immortal Skull' for his daring, and dips into the darker side of the underground. He's an Arcobaleno now, after all, even if everyone says he's the weakest. He doesn't have much of choice anymore.

Fon disappears back to the Chinese Triads, he throws himself harder into his martial arts, into learning how to quell his own Stormy anger. He does his best to avoid what little family he has left, torn between the worry of the Triads breathing down his back and Curse that now follows him like a disease.

Lal and Colonello avoid each other as much as possible. Lal can't stand the knowledge that he took her place - sacrificed himself to the curse for her, and Colonello can't stand to the grey pacifier that hangs around her neck. A sign that he didn't save her completely. He can't stand to see her guilt-stricken face when her eyes lock with his own light blue pacifier, her guilt eating away at her the same way the curse eats away at him.

Verde locks himself in his lab, erratically shifting between trying to find a way to end the cruse, and a mixture of resignation an apathy when it all becomes too much. When the knowledge that they're going to die like the countless Arcobaleno's before them becomes overwhelming and he can no longer breathe.

Luce's death changes nothing at all. They're still stuck in those cursed child-like bodies as they wait for Checkerface to arrive and pass the pacifier onto it's next bearer: Luce's daughter, Aria. She smiles and looks just like her mother, spouting the same shit of how they should be _grateful_ they were Chosen, how they curse was a _blessing_ that her mother bestowed upon them. How they should be _thankful_ that they got to work with _two_ Skies when most Elements would kill to even meet one. They hate her already, just like they grew to hate Luce and her holier-than-thou ideology. The only solace they find is she, like her mother, already formed her Guardian bonds.

They've all long since come to realization that they will die without ever meeting a proper Sky, one that was supposed to care and love them as much as they care about them. Instead they were going to die for a curse they had no choice with for a power-blinded Sky and their mistaken ideals.

Checkerface appears with little fanfare. With his arrival the Sky pacifier vanishes from Luce's clasped hand to reappear in Checkerface's outstretched one. Aria take a step forward, her chin up as she walks towards her Fate.

* * *

Tsuna is five years old when a soft voice in his head whispers at him to go to the park early instead of staying home with his Mama. It is the same voice that whispers in his head whenever he nearly trips, or when Ms. Shiroma is looking at him and he needs to pay attention again in class.

Tsuna is five years old when he meets a smiling man with sad eyes. (The voice whispers at him to go nearer, trust the man, this is important. And Tsuna knows to trust the voice, it will not do anything to hurt him, even if it asks him to do things he would rather not.)

Nonetheless, Tsuna takes a seat next the smiling man. No wonder pass between the two as the wind blows. The smiling man seems to be in no hurry to speak, and Tsuna has never been one to mind the silence. (It is important after all, the voice whispers, that the smiling man be free to make his decisions in his own time. His task is not one to be taken lightly.)

Wordlessly, Kawahira reveals the orange pacifier in his hand, sadness tainting his smile now. His breath catches as the young Sky's eyes turn molten before he lowers his head. (This is important, the voice whispers instistantly. This is yours, it purrs in his mind).

Tsuna is five years old when the weight of the pacifier is placed around his neck, the mans smiles replaced by a small frown although he offers no apology. Instead he settles closer to the little Sky and finally offers to talk to him.

Kawahira's heart breaks at what his hand is forced to do but the Arcobaleno need a Sky and Sepira's line hadn't been able to produce a pure enough Sky after Luce. While Aria was strong in her own right, and she had the same charisma that all Sky seem to embody, she wasn't _enough_ not for the Arcobaleno, not for the Tri-ni-sette. He will do what he must to ensure that this world continues, even if it means that he must condemn a child. This world is all he has left.

Kawahira is tempted to leave their conversations at idle chat, there is no need to thrust the young boy into a panic, and normally he would have - after all he has no reason to play favorites with the young Sky and he has left bearer's unknowing before. But the Sky that sings beneath the child's skin makes him hesitate. It's purer than Luce's - who he would begrudgingly was one of the strongest Sky bearers he's cursed, nearing his dear Sepira in purity and strength. He can barely taste the young Sky's Flames in the air around them, the beginnings of Harmonization forming with area, but it's enough to know that the child will rise above Luce - has the potential to rise above Sepira. And while that should scare him, should make him angry that a mortal could be better than Sepira. He can't bring himself to be angry at the small Sky that has yet to speak a word. That has given him free rein of how this interaction would go down without any expectations. That has not run away yet despite the fact that there is nothing keeping him here.

A soft chuckle flusters through the air as he finally turns to the little Sky. "What is your name, little one?"

The child perks up, "Tsuna! But Mama calls me Tsu-kun!" The young Sky chirps, a wide smiles plays on his face.

"Hello, Tsuna. I'm Kawahira, have you ever heard of a group called the Arcobaleno?"


	2. Home is the Fire that sings in his veins

Kawahira smiles easily at the young Sky's confused face. It came as no surprise to the Tri-Ni-Sette ambassador, the young Sky before him had not startled at the sight of the pacifier like those well versed in the underworld would have. That was good on one hand and unfortunate on the other. He was _happy_ the young Sky in front of him had not been thrust into the underworld, but he had no knowledge of the Flames of Sky, or what it would mean to be a _home_.

Kawahira hums softly, pushing his worries down, well if the child knows nothing then it would be best to start at the beginning. "The Arcobaleno are the Strongest Seven Flame bearers," the confusion on the child's face deepens but Kawahira continues smoothly. "There is a bearer for each flame type, and each flame has its own unique properties." He waits for Tsuna's nod before continuing, "There are Strom, Rain, Cloud, Mist, Lightening, Sun and Sky Flames. The Storm Flames have the property of Disintegration. Storm has the ability to corrode anything that it touches., making it the most destructive of the Flame types. It is also the one that resembles fire the most. Rain can be thought of as the opposite, with tranquility as its property. The Sky Flame- the one that sleeps within you- has the property of 'harmony.'"

Kawahira allows a moment for the child to fully absorb the influx of new information, his amber eyes flashing gold on occasion. Kawahira doesn't try to fight the upward tug on his lip, the child's Intuition is strong. He thought so when the child approached him with no questions or worries, but those eyes, those Flame burnt eyes only furthered to solidify it.

"As a Sky," Kawjira breaks the silence once again. "You are Special. You are a _home_. You give the elements a place of rest, somewhere they can return to. You," he pauses here, his eyes going distant. "You allow what is yours to come and go with the knowledge that you accept them no matter what. That no matter what life throws at them and at you, you stand side by side. You care for them and in turn they care for you. It's a balance, a-"

"Harmony."

"...what?" Kawahira watched as the young Sky flushed before taking a deep breath.

"It's a harmony? The relationship between a Sky and the,uh, Elements? They take care of each other, and keep each other safe, right? But, it's an equal thing. Kinda? At least it _feels_ like it?" Tsunayoshi's face scrunched up, his fingers drumming silently on the bench next to him.

"Feels, not sounds?" Kawahira hummed at the Sky's wording.

"Mmmm, no? Or yes? _Feels_ because its more than just the balance, more than just than just the Sky and Elements?" His eyes turn molten as he continues to speak, Kawahira breath catching in his throat. "It's, I don't know, deeper? You said the Sky was a home, but homes aren't just for certain people they're for everyone. Everyone deserves a home they can go to and rest. Somewhere they can be themselves and bond with the others who also call that place- or person- home. So, it's not just the Sky and Element. It's Element and Element as well. The Sky is only one part of the home."

For a moment he does not see Tsunayoshi, in his eyes he sees Giotto. He sees Tsunayosi's ancestor in the way his eyes burn with knowledge he doesn't fully understand, in the way his Flames back each word that falls from his lips. Giotto shines through even after 600 hundred years of distance, but through the child's words he sees his dearest Sepria. Or at least the Sepria before she left them, left him behind.

He does not speak, instead he watches as the gold fades from the young Sky's eyes. Their sharpness lost as they return to their normal soft caramel. How the child's controuts, confusion dancing in his eyes before quick bursts of gold pass. His Intuition helping make sense of his own words and their weight. Words that left his mouth but weren't fully his just yet. But that was fine, the Sky was young -the youngest Arcobaleno ever- he had some time to learn. Not much though, Kawahira had to remind himself, because he had sentenced this child to die. No, the child didn't have much time at all.

He leaves the rest of the Elements to unexplained for now. The child will be able to find out about them on their own time, he has wasted enough time as it is. ( It has absolutely nothing to do with the Sky sleeping in the child that calls subconsciously to his Mist. It has been so long since a Sky has called to him, so long since his dear Sephira shattered their bond. And while he knows restraint, knows that the Sky sitting next to him is not - cannot be- his own, he _wants_. More than he wants a way for this curse to end, more than he wants a way to finally join Sephira and his Family.) He squashes down the desire of his Flames, and plasters a smile on his face, far too wide to be natural but it'll have to do. He fails to notice the small frown that begins to tug at the young Sky's lips.

Instead he moves on, voice chipper. "Now then, shall I tell you who your Elements - the Arcobaleno- are?"

He is unprepared for the stilling of the air around them, the stopping of the constant movement of the young Sky's flames, nor is he prepared for it when his Flames begin again. Their movement is slow in the air around them, curling and flexing, raw strength and potential. (Aria would have never held up as the Arcobaleno's Sky, not with this unaffilited Sky practically oozing harmony.)

"_**No**_," Tsuna voice pierces through the air. The voice hissed in his ear, 'no names, no aliases. They must tell us on their own. Must trust us as their own. _We must earn it. It is not our right to know it, nor is it his right to tell us._' "_**No names**_," Tsuna repeats, his voice layered with his Flames.

Kawahira simply nods. He does not understand the importance of the Seven's names, but Luce has denied him as well when he made the same offer. Perhaps it was a Sky thing? Sepira had no need for his information, she found out she needed to on her own - not that her Earthlings ever hide anything from her in the first place. Although, he feels that the reason for denial was different. It may not be his place to say, as the one who gave Luce the pacifier in the first place - being a bearer for the Tri-Ni-Sette was a Giglio Nero birthright and while they held the Mare Rings for generations, despite not being able to use them, it was time for the Pacifiers to come home. He remembers when he first offered the Seven's names to Luce, how instead of a simple yes or no like he had expected, she had asked for a condition. She would take the Chosen Seven to the proper meeting place in three months time, and if by that time the Elements has not decided she was worthy of their names, he would give them to her.

The Seven were careful around their new 'Boss' but Luce was warm like Sepira, was motherly and caring and had a way about her that broke people down until they wanted to stay by her side. Perhaps that too was a factor of the Sky's Harmony, or perhaps it was something that she got from her diluted Earthling blood. He wasn't too sure. Before the decline of his people, the other Earthlings would have followed Sepira until the end of time, into eternity if that's what she asked for. And, when it was only the two of them left, he would have followed her still. She was Home. (If she hadn't chosen humans over him, would he still have a place that calls to him? Would he still have a place to call home? Would he still be commendmend to curse the very creatures that his Sepira loved so dearly?) It's ironic, truly, how much Sepira loved humans, how she threw away the last of her kind to live amongst them, to be like they are, only for her descendants to view themselves as Holy, something so far above their Elemenal counterparts. And yet, despite their views, despite the generation that span between the two of them, both Luce and Sepira betrayed their own.

He watches the young Sky from the corner of his eye and waits. Will he be like Luce and ask for a condition?

* * *

The winds blows between them as the silence stretches, amber eyes glancing at him every so often before returning to the clouds above them. He does not turn to speak to Kawahira, content in allowing him to continue whenever the man felt like it.

He does not understand why the voice is so insistent that he cannot know their names (he _wants_ to know them, to know about the people that he is supposed to be a 'home' for, but the voice will not lead him the wrong way. So no matter how desperately he _wants_ he can swallow it and be patient. He's gotten very good at being patience, at least that's what the adults say when he's waiting for his Mama to remember him again.)

The wind picks up petals from the surrounding cherry blossoms and Tsuna follows their path watching as they are caressed and carried into the endless horizon, going to a place his eyes can no longer follow. What they will find there he does not know, but their fleeting beauty is enough to entrap him.

Do they know where they're going? Hopefully they stay together, after all it's awfully lonely when there's no one by your side. Oh, or maybe they're like the birds that make nests on the tree outside of his window. Mama said that they still with their families until they're big enough to fly away on their own, free to return whenever they wanted. Maybe the floating petals are the same then? They can go wherever they want thanks to the wind and if one day they return to the trees they came from, well than that will be their choice.

"Can you tell me about them?" His voice is soft against the silence that surrounds them.

Kawahira blinks in surprise before a chuckle falls from his lips. "Of course, Tsunayoshi."


	3. Tears of the Left Behind

"What would you like to know?" Kawahira asked the young Sky. If not names what else would Kawahira say. He wasn't close with the Arcobaleno.

"What are they like?"

"They were strong..."

"Besides that, obviously."

"I think, i think, Luce would have liked having them as her elements if she would have given them they chance."

"...Did they like Luce?"

"I would think so, but I am not them."

The young Sky puffs out his cheeks, he wants to understand the people he is supposed to be a home to but he also wants to understand the man that is next to him. He has time, he knows, to learn about the people he is supposed to be a home to. (The voice agrees that there are very few things that he should know about them before actually meeting them. It would be better for them to talk to him, to trust him enough with the information that he so desires.)

"What about you then?"

The Earthling blinks, slightly startled. "What about me?'

"Do you think you would have liked Luce if she would have given you chance."

"I am not a choice, child."

"Why not?"

"Because that simply not how it has been."

"Maybe not how it has been but it can be how it is now."

"No."

"And why not?" Tsuna knew he was whining, knew that it was annoying and that there was no need for it. But, he couldn't understand it. The man beside him preached home and safety and yet denied himself the very things he was trying to give to the Arcobaleno? Why couldn't he have the same? Unless he already had a Sky to call home? (His head rang at that a yes and a no. Used to, but no longer. Painful. Its so painful.)

"There is no home for me." It was spoke with such finality that Tsuna almost dropped it, let the whole topic go or rather maneuvered it back to safer waters, but that wouldn't help either of them. (The voice purred that he was right. Kawahira needed this, and as much as it hurt, Tsuna was going to do it.)

"There is a home for everyone."

"No for me, not anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because!" Mist Flames surged from the man beside him, chaotic and lapping at everything they could reach. They flared as the man glared at Tsunayoshi and upon meeting the golden gaze filled with nothing but patience and kindness, withered and died away.

"Because," Kawahira began again. He was tired, so very tired, but he wanted to tell the young Sky before him even if it was his burden to bare. "Because my home left me long ago."

The words were coated in sorrow and held so much exhaustion that it made the young Sky frown.

"Where did the Sky go?" Had she died? Tsuna was smart, he knew that people went away sometimes and they didn't come back, his Mama taught him that when Grandpa stopped calling. If Kawahira's Sky went away then of course he would be sad, but that's okay! Being sad just meant that you cared a whole lot about the person. Mama was sad for a while after Grandpa died, but she got better. She smiles more and reminds of Grandpa make her determined now instead of saddened

Maybe the death was fresh? No wonder it was hurting so much. He was all alone, dealing with his loss.

(The voice hissed in the back of his mind, no death was not what took Kawahira's Sky from him. Not at first. Death came, like it always will, but death did not steal them away."

"She..." The elder man took a shuddering breath. "She found others that she cared for. In the end she care more about them than me. Than us. Luce was a lot like her." The smile that tugs on his lips is filled with so much sadness that it makes the young Sky's heart ache. A humorless chuckle tears through his lips. "I guess that makes sense, they were related after all."

"Luce was related to your Sky?" The child asks with wide eyes. How old was his grief?

"Yes, she was her ancestor in fact. Her great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother in fact."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Luce must have looked a lot like her."

"There have been plenty that looked like her, but Luce, she is - was - special. She had Sepira's face, her eyes, and hair. It hurt to look at her but it was a normal pain. I had seen so many. Even Aria - the one who the pacifier should have gone to had you not proven more suitable- looks like Sepira. But it wasn't her face, it wasn't even her eyes that shone so much like my Sky's that got to me. It was who she was. Her conviction, and brightness, the way she was kind and yet cold, the way that she smiled whenever her elements picked on each other lovingly. She was so much like Sepira." The Earthling release a bitter laugh. "She even betrayed those she was supposed to care for just like Sepira. Abandoned them without remorse or hesitation because it was what they thought was right. It wasn't. It isn't."

The Earthling was rambling now, nearly incoherent, but this was better. Better than bottling it up until it overflowed and broke you. Better than keeping it to yourself and trying to put the pieces back together.

"The Arcobaleno weren't enough for Luce, and I - we- weren't enough for Sepira." A broken sob tore through the air as the Mist Flames rose yet again, "why couldn't I have been enough?"

Tsuna doesn't hesitate, he gets closer to the man, uncaring of the Flames licking at his legs, and hugs the crying man.

He does not speak, just rests his head on the Earthlings arm, and allows the other man to sob.

It had to be painful to carry this around for so long without anyone to lean one.

He nuzzles into the man next to him, unconsciously letting his Flames comfort the man beside him. He can feel them burning beneath his skin, not quite ready to burst forth but close enough that they come to the distressed call of the element beside him.

With a sniffle the Mist pulls away from the younger Sky, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Thank you, little one."

The young Sky beams back up at older man (and just where did those flowers and sparkles come from?)

"You're welcome!"

The Earthling clears his throat and tries to regain some of his composure. It was embarrassing that he broke down in front of the young Sky the way that he had, but it felt so good just to be able to talk about with someone. "Do you still want to learn about the Arcobaleno?" He had already planned on giving the young Sky some information, but after the talk of Sepira and the quiet understanding from the boy beside him, well if he gave away some deeper information then no one but the two of them would know.

The younger Sky hummed, torn between the want of knowing and the buzzing inside of his head. He wanted to know about them, but it wasn't right. (Just like he needed to learn about Luce and Sepira from Kawahira, he needed to learn about the Arcobaleno from the Arcobaleno. Beside the nagging confirmed that any information that he got wouldn't help it. It would let him learn about his own, but he would lose trust before he even had the chance to gain it.)

"No, thank you."

"No...?" He hadn't expected Tsunayoshi to deny his knowledge, in fact he had fully expected the child to jump at the chance to learn more about his assigned Elements.

"No, it wouldn't be right."

Kawahira wants to argue, convince him that it is his right to know about the Elements they are his after all, his is their home, but he has a feeling that the child would not agree with his logic. (He was right, of course, because no matter how much a Sky was supposed to be a home, he did not own the people that would fall under his Sky. They were their own, even if they were his.)

Instead he just nods his head, easily bowing to the Sky beside him.

He blinks when the Sky leaps off of the bench, landing in front of his still smoldering Mist Flames.

"I think it's time to go home for the day," Tsunayoshi smiles at the elder man.

"I see, then I guess I will be seeing you." Kawahira rises from the bench with grace and ease, snuffing out the remainder of his Flames as he does so.

He goes to turn away but is stopped by small fingers latching onto his sleeve.

Tsunayoshi blinks wide eyes at him. (They're amber, why are they amber? They shouldn't be amber.)

"Would you like to come with me," the Sky smiles.

Kawahira shouldn't. He should shake the boy off and leave him alone, he's done more than enough, more than what he would have done for anyone else. More than he has done for anyone else. And yet those wide, amber eyes stare up at him with acceptance. He knows that the child will not stop him if he leaves, instead he will simply smile and do his best to understand. He doesn't owe the child anything after all, and he's completed what he's required to do so why is he hesitating. (The dormant Sky sings beneath Tsunayoshi's skin calls for him, calms now that his own Mist is volatile after the conversation about Sepira. It's been so long since any Sky has called to him let alone calmed him, and he knows, logically, that the Sky before him already has Elements. Has the strongest in the world waiting for a home. But...)

"Yes," the Earthling smiles back. "I would like that very much."

Maybe he deserved a home too.


End file.
